Hún tekur gleraugun af borðinu og gefur mér þau.

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Breakdown of Hún tekur gleraugun af borðinu og gefur mér þau.

• borðið: the table
• taka: to take
• og: and

Questions & Answers about Hún tekur gleraugun af borðinu og gefur mér þau.

Why is gleraugun plural? Why not something like a pair of glasses?

In Icelandic, gleraugu is normally a plural noun, just like English glasses. So gleraugun means the glasses.

You can think of it as a plural-only noun in ordinary use. Icelandic usually does not need a structure like a pair of glasses unless you specifically want to emphasize the pair.

What does the ending in gleraugun do?

The ending shows that the noun is definite: the glasses rather than just glasses.

A very important Icelandic pattern is that the is often attached to the end of the noun instead of being a separate word.

So:

• gleraugu = glasses
• gleraugun = the glasses

For a learner, the safest approach is to memorize gleraugun as the definite form of gleraugu.

Why is it af borðinu and not af borðið?